


Living Things

by KarouYamisaki



Series: Living Things [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Video Game), Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Family, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-04
Updated: 2013-09-17
Packaged: 2017-12-07 10:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/747347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KarouYamisaki/pseuds/KarouYamisaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"When he finally calmed a little he let one hand go off the steering wheel to latch onto hers, the quaking in his hand was the only tell to his distress [...] Carol could only hope that they'd make it through this, together." AU Daryl/Carol story of seasons 1&2 of The Walking Dead. (Titles and quotes taken from the Linkin Park Album with the same name)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Lost in the Echo

**Lost in the Echo**

I can't fall back I came too far

Hold myself up and love my scars

Let the bells ring wherever they are

'Cause I was there saying...

~*LT*~

Carol glanced beside her where her daughter was sitting in the front seat with a road map, She was twisting the dials on the Cherokee's Radio so they could hear whatever news reports she could catch a hold of. They were waiting at the tail-end of a traffic-jam going to Atlanta.

She twisted the simple wedding ring as the road-block continued to be at a stand-still, the anxiousness to leave rising as the increased number of military planes and helicopters above increased. She only wished he was with her at the moment to touch him, cursing herself for getting slit up from him and his brother when he'd went to go scout out a clear path for them. He had handed her and Sophia each a handgun and a knife and headed off with his brother on the motorcycle, he hadn't come back when the first of many of the dead had spotted them and she'd been so scared she'd thrown the Cherokee in drive and hoped that he'd meet them in Atlanta like they'd planned.

"Hey Mama?" Sophia broke through her thoughts, bringing her back to the present.

Carol blinked "Yes Sweetheart?"

"Do you think Dad is going to find us?" it was an honest question, and the girl was scared to ask it, as if it would sound like she would doubt her father was still alive in the mess the world was devolving to.

"If there is one thing I know about your Daddy, it's that he will never give up until he does." Carol replied wrapping an arm around her as the girl dosed off.

~*#*~

They had met in the most simplest of places, the local gas station. She had to buy a quick galleon of milk that she had forgotten to get on an earlier trip to the grocery store and was unwilling to traverse to go there again just for milk. Sophia had been six years old at the time, happily holding onto Carols hand as they entered the store, rambling on giddily about her school day.

He on the other hand had just gotten off work at the garage in town, he'd stopped to buy cigarettes for his worthless ass of a brother Merle.

She'd let go of her daughters hand to take the milk from the freezer and by the time she'd turned around again, the little girl had run off.

"Sophia? Honey where'd you go?" Carol called, glancing around the aisle she was standing in, ears perked for little shuffling footsteps and giggling.

He was checking out when a tiny girl ran into his legs, falling onto her butt from the impact. His knee buckled a bit but otherwise he remained steady. Glancing to the ground, he saw the girl looking at him with ocean-grey eyes wide with fear like he was some kind of monster. A woman with a head full of dark blonde curls quickly appeared to scoop her off the ground. Her eyes matched the little girls and he assumed she was her mother.

"I'm sorry, I just let go of her for a second and she wandered off..." Carol was wary of the strangely silent, awkward looking man who took them both in before his eyes skittered away nervously.

"Tha's fine, jus' keep an eye on 'er," he replied shortly, paying for his things and leaving without glancing back.

Truthfully it was an insignificant first meeting, but all stories have to start somewhere...

The next time they met was at the bar. Her co-workers had finally worn her down to go out and have a drink with them finally and since Sophia was having a sleep-over at her friend Amanda's house she really had no excuse to not go out. She had dressed simply in a pair of jeans and red and white layered tank tops under her long brown jacket. Dark blonde shoulder-length curly hair tied up in a loose ponytail.

She'd only been in the bar for about twenty minutes when he entered and made his way to the counter. By this point she'd slipped off the jacket and had it slung over the back of the chair she was sitting on.

Carol could tell who he was by the way his gaze skittered around like at the gas station before he sat down. A split second decision and ignoring her coworkers she'd decided to try and have a chat with him.

"Hello again." she greeted sitting on the stool next to him.

"Hey." he replied

"My name's Carol" she smiled "I'm sorry for the other day."

"It's fine, it was nothin'."

It was hard to get him to respond to her after that, so with a sigh she went to go back to her coworkers. Hopping off the stool only to have his hand suddenly grab her wrist.

He wouldn't admit until later it was because her tanks had ridden up her back to reveal the scars her Ex-Husband had given her. They'd made him reach out to grab her, just to see if she was okay.

"Those scars...".

She shrugged "My Ex-Husband was an asshole."

His ice-blue eyes were wide in shock as he let go of her wrist.

"I didn't catch your name." Carol said, leaning back against the counter.

"Uh...Daryl Dixon." he rasped, his ears going red at the admission, as if she'd run away or turn in disgust.

She grinned "It was nice to meet you Daryl."

"Ya' know that ya' don't have to leave..." his cheeks were a bright red, from anger or embarrassment she didn't know but she smiled in return and got back on the bar-stool.

Carol talked about her daughter, and that she was the only good thing that had happened between her and Ed and that she'd finally had enough one day to leave.

He'd admitted that he was there because he was hiding in the one bar in town his brother had been banned from going into.

They took their time talking about their problems, and the rare happy moments they'd encountered in their lives. Mostly it was him listening to her talk, but he was just happy to have someone who'd talk and listen to him without the usual abuse.

Carol didn't notice her tipsy coworkers leave, forgetting that she'd ridden with them

Eventually they were kicked out of the bar after final call, both sober and trying hard to stop grinning like idiots over a new friendship.

"Damn they left without me."She scoffed, typical.

"Do ya need a ride home?" He asked "I've got my truck here if you want..."

Carol grinned "Sure."

~#~

She now stood outside of her car, the back tailgate open so Sophia and a couple other children from the nearby cars could sit and play cards together while the adults talked.

She'd learned the little boy Carl's mother was the beautiful, tall skinny woman who hovered around the man named Shane who she found was a policeman.

There was also the younger girl that had latched herself onto the two older children named Faith, whose father Ian leaned against the side of her Cherokee with a cane in hand. He was traveling with his older brother Wil and his sister in law Iris and had been going towards Missouri when they had been unhappily detoured back to Atlanta.

Currently Wil and Shane were arguing about getting off the Highway and find a spot outside the city to stay, Iris had rolled her eyes grumbling something about 'pissing contests' and had went back to their Ford Explorer to find some fruit snacks for the kids.

Wil had convinced her earlier and truthfully it would give her a better chance in finding her husband, who didn't trust the government much to begin with and preferred to live as near as he could to the wilderness as he could. She also trusted the former Navy man better then the hot-head cop who was on the side of waiting for the government.

Shane scoffed at something Wil had said and went off to see if the roadblock was easing off with Lori in toe. She snorted at the woman's need to follow the man and left her young boy Carl with Carol and the strangers that were now hovering around the back end of her car.

~*#*~

They had a simple southern romance over comforting late-night small talk, friendship, and shared pain. She helped him to open up and smile more, soon he was joking around with her and Sophia on his spare time and on his rare days off. While he helped her not to be so afraid anymore, giving her a sass that made him smile and others raise their eyebrows at.

Daryl had quickly bonded with Sophia, the two quickly becoming thick as thieves as his relationship with Carol progressed. The two left alone would get into some strange shenanigans for example: on hot day they could be found in the backyard as he would 'hunt' her down in some modified version of hide-in-seek with water guns. Or the time they'd decided to do the grocery shopping and came back with nothing she'd written on the list, but every kind of sugary material the little girl had talked the roughneck into buying.

He nearly was fully moved in with them when he'd asked the young girl for permission to marry her mama.* Not caring what Carols family thought and not caring if Merle excepted his choice of bride and her 'attachment' as his brother called Sophia on the first and last time they'd all been together for anything.

He got an enthusiastic yes from the girl and they were married at the courthouse with a simple ceremony. Neither wanted a big church wedding like her first marriage had, and he practically seized at the thought of wearing a suit. So jeans, clean work boots, and a shirt with sleeves for him and sundresses for her and Sophia had been their approximations of appropriate wedding attire.

Over the next few years, her little girl Sophia had grown from a skinny awkward child to a petite young teen who over the years had gotten Daryl's bit of attitude about things. He had been teaching her to hunt since they day Carol had agreed to marry him. He claimed that any daughter of his should at least know how to decently hunt and track, and the young girl had absorbed it like a sponge.

He'd never really got Carol to come out with him, but Sophia grew to love being outdoors with him. He got her her first bow and quivers of arrows, after being impressed she'd been able to track and find their quarry without his help.

~#~

"How are you holding up with all of this?" Carol asked the other woman Iris, as Shane and Lori were not back yet and the woman's husband had begun to entertain the three children with a story.

Meanwhile the brother Ian, watched the crowd, his cane held in both hands ready to shift and use as a bat.

The green-eyed red head shook her head, hugging herself as they watched the kids laugh.

"Scared out of my mind, I haven't been able to get a hold of my sister and my children back in Missouri...What about you? Did your husband...you know?"

Ice went down Carols spine, she didn't know if he'd fallen to the undead, but something in her told her it wasn't so and that he was trying his hardest to find her.

"We got separated...and they were coming for me so I j-just drove off..." She shook her head to say no, feeling the first tears run down her cheeks as she began to shutter finally letting her worry go in front of the other woman.

Iris's green eyes softened and she put an arm around Carol to calm her, and she willingly melted into the arms of the slightly older woman.

"I'm sorry I said that, I'm sure he is fighting to get back to you, that little girl, and the baby." She murmured, stroking Carols short curls as she continued to sob into her shoulder.

~*#*~

They hadn't really talked about it, but when it happened it happened, she'd fallen pregnant three years after they'd gotten married.

She was surprised, he was scared shitless, Sophia was excited for a new sibling.

Her only worry was that she'd miscarried before with Ed a couple times before she'd finally had Sophia. He'd reasoned with her, after all the man had abused her for their entire marriage up til she ran from him and got a divorce.

Things were going well from that point on, but as she grew her worry decreased while his increased, as the possibility became reality he grew more agitated. He never really wanted to tell her why, but she'd figured him out long ago and knew it went back to his father and brothers abuse to him as he was growing up.

At six months she finally gave in to the pressure of her coworkers and Sophia and found out what they were having. To this point Daryl was fine with either, since both the thought of a boy or a girl was frightening enough.

"I have no idea on how to raise a girl." he whispered one night, alone in the dark of their room. Finally admitting some of his worry, truthfully he hadn't been around many young children besides having a cousin or girl of Merle's hand him a kid and walking away. He'd grown better with Sophia's being such an easy kid to please. So what he really meant was that he had no idea on how to be a father.

"That's alright, lucky for you I've had a girl before." she replied with a smile as she took his hand and placed it on her bump, the child within pressing her foot hard against his hand.**

~#~

"Hey Carol, Iris told me that you were upset earlier." Ian limped up to open car-door, leaning heavily onto his cane for support he winced as he dropped down into a crouch in-front of her.

"It's nothing really, it's just that she'd opened a fairly new wound." Carol replied.

"She is good at doing that, at least when she's scared. My brother on the other hand just gets antsy and has to entertain." Ian motioned to where the man was teaching the kids some dance move that looked like he was was having a seizure standing up with his arms above his head.

"What is he doing?"

"Iris, I believe, called it the dance of the drunken giraffe." he snorted.

She chuckled, and Ian smiled in slight relief. He had blue eyes, not like her husbands icy color but of a gentler azure color she'd noticed his brother and daughter carried as well.

"Are you alright though? I'm a doctor, and it looks like you are well into your third trimester."

"I'm seven months along actually, and nothing has felt off, it's just I wish Daryl with me." She was quiet and left it at that, and he used his cane and the door to get himself standing upright then, knowing she didn't want to talk anymore as she stroked her belly.

"No pains? Any strange movements?"

"I'm fine," She insisted.

He nodded "Alright, if your feeling off you can tell me and I'll try to help alright?"

"Thank you, Ian and I will."

Just then Shane and Lori had come running as there was screams from far up ahead, wide-eyed and panting for air.

"What's going on?" She heard Wil ask as he came around the back to see what the commotion was about.

"They just bombed Atlanta." Shane replied vaguely, as Lori quickly ushered Carl to their Grey car.

"What?" she said shocked as the people around them had started to get more rowdier then before.

"We need to go now before they start to attack the highway." Ian spoke to both his brother and to the cop.

"Right, I'll lead. Carol you and Sophia follow in your Cherokee, while you Wil and Ian follow from behind.

Wil didn't argue as he helped his brother limp back to their Explorer, while Iris swooped to close the tailgate to pick up the confused eight year old faith and run her back to their car. Sophia ran around a slid into the passengers seat.

~*#*~

Carol had watched the broadcasts and seen the terror the was spreading throughout the country, finally happy and moving on from her and Daryl's terrible pasts she was horrified that the end was coming now of all times.

Daryl had seen the same broadcasts, and instantly shifted deep into his protector mode, and made a plan for them to sneak out of town before what he coined "the Eaters" got too close. He decided they would leave the following morning before dawn, hoping not to draw attention. She started to pack the essentials like clothing, baby supplies, food, and their few picture albums while he focused on the guns and ammo they owned. He'd given her a strange look as she placed the albums in her suitcase but said nothing about it.

They spent the night packing things into her Cherokee, which was now packed and ready to go in a moments notice. Letting Sophia sleep as they silently got ready, keeping a watch out for any of the infected, they had planned to drive to his grandfathers hunting cottage deep in the mountains. Which would be a grand plan except that Carol was seven months along with their unborn daughter. He resolved that Atlanta and its refugee camp would be their other choice if the Cabin was overrun and the most probable to find a doctor at if need be.

That was until the sound of Merle Dixon's loud-ass motorcycle came peeling down the street. He came screaming up to the house yelling about the dead people coming and needing to be in Atlanta. Throwing the plans of the hunting cottage out the proverbial window.

"The fu- Merle?"Daryl grumbled, glancing around to see if he'd gained any attention of the rumored undead from the area.

"Come on baby brother get ya wifey and kid at lets go!" the older brother

With a glance towards each other Carol rushed to rouse Sophia while Daryl scanned the area with his shotgun in hand. Merle was shouting again about taking too damn long getting a prompt 'shut up jackass' from Daryl.

Finally Sophia stumbled out of the house, clutching to her mothers arm like all those years ago in the gas station. Daryl ushered them to the Cherokee and Merle ran to his motorcycle both peeling off into the night as the infected breached the neighborhood.

~#~

She was the first one to notice the arguing pair of men on the side of the road and had honked at the Caravan of three to stop.

He heart skipped a beat when it was Daryl, and he had a crossbow in hand that she'd never seen before with his leather vest with the angel wings on the back. His brother Merle had his arms crossed and was listening to whatever Daryl was spewing at him.

At the sound of her honking her horn he had stopped in the middle of the argument to gap at them. She stopped only a few feet away and eyes met. Daryl let his anger facade drop for a second to reveal relief before he sprung into action. There had been Walkers coming towards them, after hearing the brother's loud argument and he had no interest to be stuck with him again without knowing where his wife was.

They didn't have the typical movie-reunion with the lovers running towards each other and embracing as the world was hell around them. There wasn't the time, he'd ran towards the Cherokee she'd moved over to the middle so he could hop into the drivers seat. He shoved his new crossbow and arrows into her and Sophia's hands and slammed the door shut and putting the car into drive so they could follow the Ford and the policeman tiny Grey car.

Merle had shouted at the group of cars as they started driving away, throwing a mini-fit before jumping onto the motorcycle to follow them, like hell they were leaving him behind, and like hell they were taking his brother away from him again.

When he finally calmed a little he let one hand go off the steering wheel to latch onto hers, the quaking in his hand was the only tell to his distress. So Carol placed both of their hands over the spot the youngest Dixon was kicking leaning her head on his shoulder as her other arm went around Sophia.

Carol could only hope that they'd make it through this, together.

**TBC**

R&R

_Notes:_

_* My step-dad asked me before he asked my mother to marry him, I'm drawing parallels between my life and this story._

_**A modified Conversation my Redneck step-father and my Caryl shipping mother had when they found my 3 year old sister Josie was to be a girl._

Anybody pick up the Doctor Who reference?


	2. In My Remains

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank You kathleensmiles for Beta Reading and for putting up with me and my stupid ideas/rants.
> 
> Disclamier: I own nothing of AMC's The Walking Dead or Linkin Parks album Living Things, I amuse myself with the dollhouse of possibilities.

**In My Remains**

Like an army

falling

One by one by one...

~*LT*~

"What in god's name are you doing?" Lori screeched in outrage, causing everyone near to them to cringe from her presence as she made her way over to the display at the edge of camp.

At the scene of the crime stood Merle Dixon, knife in hand poised to throw towards a piece of plywood with a childishly drawn zombie on it's surface leaning against a tree. A gaggle of some of the braver children from the quarry camp were wide-eyed as Lori Grimes stood with hands on her hips and a frown on her face at the sight of the Redneck and what obviously a knife-throwing demonstration.

"Well lady, throwin' knives of 'course." Merle replied "Given' these kids some useful skills."

"Useful skills? Teaching children how to throw knives is dangerous! What if they hit someone or cut themselves?" she asked, her voice cresting on screeching again.

"Mom, come on." Carl pleaded, embarrassed over the scene her mother was causing.

Lori ignored her son and turned to the children, in one look they were running off to their parents.

He shrugged "They need to learn self-defense, not gonna have mommy or daddy to protect them for forever ya' know."

"I'm going to tell Shane what you have been doing." She warned, she was gripping a dejected looking Carl's arm and he made no move to get away knowing his mother could go on a rampage with anyone and the best thing to do was to be quiet and let her blow over.

"And what is he gonna do Lady? Stick me in the corner? Have me go without supper?" he ribbed, a grin stretching crossed his face when Lori huffed and left, dragging Carl with her.

Sophia was covering her mouth in a poor attempt to conceal her giggling; her shoulders shaking, watery eyes, and her face was turning red from the effort.

"Ya' think this is funny little bird? She's going to go tattle on me to your Mama, 'like to see you try an' giggle then chickadee" Merle grumbled, arms crossed and eyebrow raised as he watched his brother's little girl try to control the giggles that were threatening to take over. He had a soft spot for her long ago, even if he grumbled and swore against it, and the sad thing was; she knew.

The whole thing started when Sophia had been out earlier with her father on a short hunt for some squirrel, he;d just unloaded his arrow into a nice-sized one when a walker had stumbled out of the brush. Out of quick thinking her dad had taken his knife and thrown it, hitting the undead thing between the eyes and killing it.

She'd asked him on the way back where he'd learned to throw knives like that, and in his gravelly voice told her that his brother Merle had.

When she'd gotten back to camp she went to find her uncle to ask him to teach her the awesome skill that he father had used earlier in the forest. Ol' Merle had caved at the young girls large doe eyes, and slightly quivering lip, trying to look all innocent and shit.

He was not soft, just wanted to get the damned girl off his back so he could go back to his stash without anyone bothering him.

So he'd set up the loose piece of plywood, and had been instructing her on the correct way to hold the knife when the Grimes boy had shown up. Once he found out what they were doing he'd insisted on drawing the Zombie on the board, and soon some quarry kids had wandered up to watch what was going on.

He'd shrugged and went back to teaching, throwing the knife a few times with a satisfying thunk against the 'head' of the zombie on the board. getting approval from his young audience every time he hit the mark.

He'd been enjoying it too until that prissy cop's woman had come and ruined the fun.

~#~

Carol sighed as Lori made her way through the tents towards her, the young woman was absolutely

furious and from what she heard from 'crossed camp it was her brother-in-laws fault. There would be no quick escape since her large girth prevented her from moving with any speed. It's not that she hated the woman, in fact they became fast friends over the last month as their children were around the same age. It was just that sometimes the woman would just get something stuck in her head and would take it out on the first person she saw.

The other woman she'd met on the highway, Iris Wolfe was sitting next to her helping with some clothes that needed mending. The slightly older woman glanced up and groaned as she spotted Lori coming towards her, Carol knew what she was thinking the woman had shared with her many days before the nickname her husband Wil had given to the woman when she was like this; Mrs. Whines.

Carol put on her best smile, ignoring the heartburn the child in her belly was causing by her churning. She rubbed the spot where her daughter liked to rest and calmed her at least for awhile. The only times she was calm was when her daddy was around or when Carol went into the woods.

"Hi Lori, how are you doing today?" Carol put on a smile and Lori was frowning, crossing her arms to speak to her directly.

"Are you aware the Merle was teaching the children how to throw knives?"

"Was he?" she replied absently, trying hard not to smirk. Unlike Iris next to her who bent forward enough so a veil of reddish hair obscured the view.

"Yes, He had them gathered watching him!" she exclaimed.

"I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, he was probably trying to teach them something he thought they needed to know to survive."

"Fine, but they don't need to be learning it from a man like Merle Dixon." Lori grumbled

Carol resisted rolling her eyes at the young woman, like she could control the man. She didn't control her husband, knowing that the Dixon men were like feral cats. Try to cage them and they'd fight and claw their way out. And even though Daryl seemed to be slightly domesticated he didn't handle some things like someone trying to control and treat him like some yuppie man. He'd hiss (figuratively) and run away for hours.

"I'll talk to Daryl." Carol finally said, hoping that would pacify to woman, at least for now.

It did thank god, and Lori gave her a curt thank you and a nod as she turned and looked about for the 'leader' of the quarry group Shane Walsh.

"Wil knows how to throw knives." Iris said aloud once Lori had spotted Shane and gone to tell him of the Merle situation.

"Really?" Carol replied, surprised to hear Iris open up a little from knowing the other for a little over a month.

"My son went through an Anime faze, wanted to learn to be a ninja or something. So Wil bought him some throwing stars and knives and they spent a few weekends throwing them at a target they'd pinned on my fence." Iris chuckled "By the end Rem gave up and my husband kept them, insisting it helped him throw darts better." Iris finished rolling her eyes as she went back to stitching the shirt she had in her hand.

"Why didn't you suggest your husband?"

"My husband finds it funny to try to get people riled up." Iris replied, implying that it wasn't a good thing to send the over reactive Lori after him.

"How old is your son?" Carol asked to change the subject, also wondering about the woman's son she mentioned every once and a while with a smile.

She sighed "Rem is 17 years old this last May, talked to him shortly before this happened. He'd called to tell me that he and my 11 year old daughter had made it to my sister's orchard. They'd planned to spend the summer running wild with their cousins in Missouri. We were to join them shortly, but all this happened..."

"I'm sorry." Carol placed a hand over one of Iris's, who turned it over to squeeze it back.

"Don't be, my sister will keep them safe, even if we..." she cut herself off with a smile and the shake of her head.

"I'm going to check in with Ian, he was supposed to be watching over the children." Ian was Iris's brother-in-law who had a predominant limp from an injury he'd gotten in combat years ago. They couldn't find many jobs for him to do besides being the camp's doctor so he'd taken watch over the children as they learned or played from walkers or the few shadier men that lurked around the camp . For example; Carol's ex-husband Ed Peletier who'd miraculously survived the apocalypse. Ian's daughter Faith being included in this group of children, they found him terribly interesting when he read to them.

"I'm Sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you feelings or anything..."

"Oh no, it's that your man is coming this way, and thought you both would like some alone time." Iris smiled, motioning to where in fact Daryl was striding over, crossbow over his shoulder and a couple rabbits in hand. He looked tired and was covered in dirt and sweat from being out in the woods in the Georgia sun.

"Oh, thanks."

Iris winked as she quickly left the shade of their tree to go look for her brother-in-law. Daryl quickly taking her place next to Carol in the camp chair with a tired grunt.

"How was the hunt today?"

"Bad, took 'phia out earlier and got 'couple squirrel, but I cut off the hunt after I killed a walker that appeared." he sighed "thought that I could catch something more if I went out on my own but ya' see what we need is somthin' with more meat."

"What are you thinking?" she asked when she noticed his eyes glazed over in thought as he stared at the people moving through camp.

"Need to go further out, maybe try for somethin' bigger, like a deer. That'd feed the camp for a couple days, enough until the run from the city comes back with some more supplies."

Shane had organized a group of people to go into the city with a young man named Glenn to grab enough supplies for the entire group to use. The group consisted of Morales a Latino man who had a small family, Andrea a lawyer from Florida who was on a road trip with her sister when this mess happened, T-Dog whose past was unknown, Jackie who seemed to know T-Dog, and Merle which it was no secret that he wanted to grab more pills for his stash of pharmaceuticals.

"Are you taking Sophia with you?" He shook his head.

"Naw, I want someone here to watch you if that prick tried somethin' " at this he glanced over to her belly, making his point of worry clear. When he'd learned of Ed survival it was hard for him not to drag the other man out into the woods and kill him. But that wouldn't settle well with the others, and Carol might not had liked the man but she didn't want Daryl killing him.

But, It was real hard some days to listen to her when she would tell him to leave him be when he'd hear Ed make some comment about them.

"I could always ask Lori or one of the other women to sleep over in our tent if your worried."

He nodded, swiping a hand over his face, he looked so tired. Under his eyes were dark circles from not being able to sleep soundly. Worrying over her, Sophia, and their unborn child was getting to him. He needed rest, but would snap if she suggested that he take the night off. It was best to try and convince him to nap a little during the day.

"Merle tried to teach the children how to throw knives."

"That probably went over well." he rasped sarcastically.

She chuckled "I told Lori I'd talk to you about it."

Daryl groaned when Lori was mentioned, she'd become infamous among the men in camp for being a bit of a Queen Bee. Most let it go since she'd lost her husband soon before the Apocalypse happened, except the few like Wil and her husband who found her annoying and the rare like Merle who goaded her on.

"I consider it talked about."

"'thanks."

He closed his eyes and let himself doze for a moment, before twitching back awake.

"I think we could both use a nap." She placed a hand on her belly "Escort us back to our tent?"

Daryl snorted, just like she thought he would, but smiled anyways as she yawned. Keeping her smirk hidden when he yawned as well, stretching with a tired groan.

She placed her hands on the armrests of her chair and tired to push herself up to no avail, she fell back into the chair with a groan.

"Need help princess?" He asked, smirking.

Carol sighed holding out her hands so he could pull her up. Daryl smirked, obliging her request he pulled her to her feet gently. He steadied her before picking up his trusty crossbow and the pair of rabbits to give to one of the other women to take care of.

On the way to their tent he stopped by a nearby fire where he dropped his kills off with some of the others who gave the couple small smiles at the prospect of meat.

Daryl was either too tired or just didn't care as he wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked slowly crossed the camp. Something he hadn't done since this had started, and Carol was tired enough that she wrapped hers arm around his and leaned against his shoulder.

They drew apart as they came upon their camp, set in a spot that was close enough to the trees to be comfortable for him, but close enough to camp to feel the tiniest bit of protection.

"Stay with me?" she asked, holding out her hand for him to take.

Daryl contemplated it for a moment before surrendering to her with a nod, letting her take his hand and draw him inside.

He laid so he was closest to the opening of the tent, she was on the inside protected from whatever came through the flap. They didn't pull a blanket over themselves, seeing as it was hot as hell out, but that didn't stop them from curling around each other.

"Don't like being so exposed" he mumbled into her neck "Ya' look like ya' could pop at any time, and we're right in the open."

Carol grinned "It would be poetic, a Dixon born in the woods."

"Go to sleep woman." He snorted in response, tightening his arms around her as she fell into a light sleep.

~#~

Couple days later the quarry was wishing the group going into town luck, and wishing them a safe trip and to return to them soon.

The Dixon's had said goodbye to each other earlier, since Daryl also left for his over night hunt that day as well. Sophia had been brokenhearted when she was told to stay in camp with her mother, but had grinned to the promise of venison.

Daryl had parted from Carol with a soft kiss on her forehead, and a lingering touch to where their unborn daughter was housed. He was not and never would be one to big goodbyes, but knew that in the world they lived in that each time they parted could be the last. He gave in to their need for a slightly more sentimental goodbye. Ruffling Sophia's hair before disappearing into the foliage the early sun-rays of the dawn.

Merle was not to give goodbyes either, instead he gave them a nod before climbing into the vehicle they had chosen to take into town, an old red Pontiac mini-van.

~#~

Sophia stood still as he came out of the woods in front of her, she was alone, something that happened rarely these days as she was always with Carl or some of the other children that lived in camp. She was just going to run to Mrs. Grimes to get something she'd borrowed from her mama, her knife hung in it's sheath on her belt.

"Hey girl, why don't you say hi to your daddy?" he asked, sending a shiver down her spine.

She barely remembered him in fuzzy memories from when she was younger, and he was larger then she last remembered him to be.

Sophia Marianne Peletier was the name she was given when she was born, a name she hadn't kept long after her Mama left the man who was her Father after finally getting tired of the bruises and living in fear for her life. She filed for divorce and took a very young Sophia and ran as far as she could in the state of Georgia, getting a job as a Secretary at the local high school and putting her into Kindergarten.

After that her mother got full custody of her, with no visiting time for her father, so she hadn't seen the man in years. A thing her mom was grateful for, and after she and Daryl had gotten serious he became her daddy. Then when they had gotten married Daryl had adopted her and he and her mom had her last name changed to Dixon.

So now this big man who really did nothing in camp but sit and smoke cigarettes all day was telling her that was her daddy and looking at her funny.

She could tell he was lying, his eyes were dark and soulless, and the way he smiled was just wrong. It made her want to run away as fast as she could, but he was huge

"Did your Mama and that dumb redneck teach you to be so disrespectful to adults? When an adult asks ya a question girl you better answer." he growled, differently from her father Daryl who sounded like a wolf, this man was like an ogre.

She gulped "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

He frowned "Girl, I am no fuckin' stranger, I'm your father."

Her saving grace was the disheveled couple that came out of the woods near-by, the woman pulled on her partners shirt and pointed towards them, and Ed hadn't noticed yet. The couple made their way towards them the man, who she recognized as Shane Walsh was carrying a gun with him as he made his way over to them, Lori following close behind with a worried look on her face.

"Hey Ed, what are you doing out here man, I thought you were supposed to be on watch?" Shane asked, shotgun resting easy in his hands,

Ed deflated "Saw the girl wandern' by herself, she shouldn't be doing that in times like these."

"I was just fine, Mama sent me to go find Mrs. Grimes." Sophia crossed her arms, emulating her father Daryl from the stance to the accent. Her frown was enough to claim the girls biological father was not the man in front of her now but the Hunter.

Lori smiled "Right, I bet she wanted her needles back. Come with me honey and I'll get those needles for you. " She held out her hand for Sophia to take and she did, letting Lori take her from the two men who were standing off with each other. Sophia knew that Shane would win because Ed was a coward, she'd seen it the first day he arrived at camp and tried to harass her mom, only to have a crossbow, a knife, and a gun pointed at him.

That was then a car alarm could be heard coming close to camp, and they stopped what they were doing to check it out.

~#~

Merle did not make it back from the city, he had been left chained on a roof in Atlanta. Although with the loss of the Dixon brother came the return of a dead man, Rick Grimes.

Carol was happy that Lori had her husband back, but angry at the people who had went on the run that failed to free Merle and bring him back to camp. She knew Daryl was on thin ice right now mentally from stress and this would probably either send him into a rage or shut him down. They didn't need that now, with her being so far along she couldn't stop him if he flew into a full out rage like he used to.

Lori and Morales had proceeded to introduce Rick to every member at camp later when they sat around the fire. Carol had snuck her chair into the ring and was sharing her large blanket with Sophia who sat in the chair next to her. They listened to Ricks story

"I'm sorry Carol for leaving your husband on the roof."

"Merle is not my Husband." She frowned "Daryl is."

Rick faltered "Ah, well you could..."

"No, that can be your job. I know my husband and I know he'd rather hear from a person that was there instead of his wife who wasn't." Carol said with a sigh, staring into the fire. Ignoring the look from Lori of shock and the other men who'd known Daryl for over a month now nodded, knowing he was not one one to tolerate bullshit. Rather for him to be told straight from the source then through a game of 'he said she said' telephone crap.

T-dog spoke up "I'll tell him, I was the one who dropped the damn key."

"No offense T, but I think it'd sound better from a white guy." said Glenn who was sitting on the other side of the fire. The group went silent after that

She'd been right the next day when her husband came back from his hunt, his deer being taken by a straggling Walker making him mad enough that he neatly exploded when he was told the news. She and Sophia were lucky enough to be by the R.V to stop him from whipping out his knife and stabbing the poor man when he broke the news about Merle.

And so he left her again, giving her the same goodbye as before, only this time he held her closer and had given her a lengthy kiss, asking her to forgive him for leaving her again so soon. She only asked for him to come back without any missing pieces to his person, reminding him three people were depending on him to come back.

~#~

"Hi Mrs. Dixon!" Faith smiled as she came hopping along side her father who was limping along behind her on his cane.

"Hello Faith, Hello Ian come to check on me again?" Carol smiled, working on fixing one of Sophia's pairs of pants she'd managed to rip a hole down the side of during one of her hunts with Daryl.

Her daddy nodded "Just checking how your doing Carol, can't be too careful seeing as we don't have a hospital we can take you to if a problem arises this close to your due-date can we?"

Faith sat down beside Carol as her father asked questions and felt around her belly with his stethoscope to listen for the baby's heart beat, and to Carols heartbeat as well. She enjoyed to watch her daddy help people, not wanting to leave her daddies side encase something happened to him again.

"From what I can tell you are fine Carol, perfectly healthy in times like these, I'm sorry I can't do a more..."

"It's alright Ian, you've done your best with what you have." Carol placed a hand on his arm in comfort to the doctor without many of his usual useful supplies so he could do his full job and not his now regular patch jobs he had to do, many without painkillers.

"Suppose they want us to make an appearance at this fish fry they are having."

**TBC**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 4075 words...holy cow...
> 
> Hope ya'll enjoyed the Merel POV.
> 
> R&R


	3. Burn It Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Daryl didn't know whither it was fear or excitement that made him grin like an idiot with the nosy old man, nor what brought on the sudden onslaught of the chuckles that came out of his mouth. Perhaps it was all the worry being released off his heart, maybe for a minute he needed to let go and be a bit crazy. All he knew was that he felt as if he were drunk, probably was thanks to the amount of Southern Comfort he'd had earlier."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank You kathleensmiles for Beta Reading and for putting up with me and my stupid ideas/rants of the most random of nature.
> 
> Disclamier: I own nothing of AMC's The Walking Dead or Linkin Parks album Living Things, I amuse myself with the dollhouse of possibilities.

Burn It Down

The colors conflicted

as the flames climbed into the clouds

I wanted to fix this

but couldn't stop from tearing it down.

~*LT*~

Carol enjoyed the warm water on her back, being as far along as she was in her pregnancy it was hard to spend hours working and living outside and then ride for hours in a cramped space all the while being worried for her daughter and husband. She was also worried about the cramping she was now experiencing, timing them as they came closer together.

The water that massaged her aching body was replaced by a pair of familiar hands that worked her lower back and shoulders. Smiling she moaned and lent into his touch. Carol turned in his arms and laid her head against his chest, her large belly pressing into him as she wrapped her arms around him.

It'd been a while since she saw her husband so laid back, although that might just be the half empty bottle of Southern Comfort he had in his hand. Last time he drank that much he started singing Free Bird off-key on repeat for about a half hour until she made him go to bed. She took the bottle from his hand and set it on the half-wall beside the shower.

"Sophia, Carl and little Faith wanted to have a sleepover in one of the other rooms. So it looks like we have the room to ourselves." she mumbled.

Daryl hummed as he pressed his forehead against hers, relishing in the peace they had found at the CDC and the time to slow down and breathe long enough to reacquaint themselves with each other. And while they weren't in the mood or had the energy to be intimate in the shower, they just held each other. Hands massaging the dirt and blood off their bodies. Touching alone relaxed them more then the alcohol and the safe haven they'd found.

She traced the scars on his torso, after years of being together he didn't flinch away like he did in the early days. Carol knew their patterns and knew what each one meant. As he knew hers.

She flinched as she felt pressure and for a moment Daryl was instantly sober and searching her for any signs of distress. He was still worried about losing her and their daughters, especially the one that was currently grinding down on her lower guts.

"It's fine, she just doesn't like being indoors for very long, like her daddy." She smiled gently, lying, moving slowly back into his arms to look him in the eyes.

"Hope she's more like you then me." he grunted, resting his head back against hers, allowing her to stare at his face, being more intimate in that moment then they had been in months.

"Really? I think she'll be a little daddy's girl, trying to copy you down to that scowl."

" 's a scary thought there." he mumbled a small rare smile gracing his lips.

His hands hovered over the bump that was their daughter, he was unsure of this safe haven that Rick had lead them to, and knew that being underground was not a life for them to live. Dixon or not. He closed his eyes again and allowed himself to stay under the spray of the shower for a little bit longer, not giving a shit to Jenners warning earlier about the water.

The thought of how easily he could have lost his girls made him nauseous, and embarrassingly clingy as he became obsessed over their whereabouts at all times. Carol had found it annoying but had accepted it as something he needed, and didn't blame him for his stupid choice to chase Merle's ghost around Atlanta like some bad comedy. Though he was glad that Shane had kicked Ed Peletier out of the group earlier in the day while he was in Atlanta, the man had disregarded the rules that had been given him when he'd been told his first day in camp to stay away from Carol and Sophia.

Carol flinched again, gripping his arms hard enough to wake him up as the pressure began to wash over her again, more intense then the others before it.

"Ah!"

~#~

Many people now thrown into this dangerous new world missed how everything was gone, no computers, wash machines, GPS, coffeemakers, no police or television.

Iris Elaine Wolfe missed not being able to call her children one last time, to tell them she loved them and to tell them to stay safe. She would lay awake at night clutching at her cellphone and staring at the pictures in her husbands wallet. Tracing their smiling faces in the photos; her daughter smiling leaning on their big husky she'd named Maisie. Her son covered in grease from fixing his motorcycle, his one blue eye and one green eye standing out from the dirt on his face.

During the day she'd focused on Carol, protecting and helping her and her daughter while Daryl was gone from that slimy man of an ex-husband. Working herself until she was ready to collapse into a dreamless sleep.

Ever since the world had ended she hadn't gave herself anytime to cry, there was no time and the noise would draw in the undead. He husband would join her, and they would share stories of the antics of the children as they grew.

Wil had played away his sadness by telling jokes and goofing around, Wil had always been like that. From his days in the Navy, to becoming a chef, he'd always found humor and enjoyed to tease others a bit. Never allowing himself to wallow in grief.

It was the sight of her brother in laws body, torn apart by walkers and propped sitting up against a small car. She'd found her niece curled up on the passengers side shivering with fear filled eyes. The eight year old had watched her father go down his blood spatter on the drivers side and the windshield some spatter on her sweater from when he'd shoved her in the car and a walker had taken hold of his arm. She gently pulled her from the passengers side of the car into her grasp.

It was then she allowed herself to weep, clutching her niece as her husband stared on in horror at the scene.

So now in the safety of the CDC her husband had put on the joking face again in front of the others, but after he was inclosed in their own little space he broke down. It didn't help that Jenner had basically allowed them to take whatever alcohol they wanted and to their rooms and get wasted. Which many of the singles did in the group, some of the married members had taken a bottle or two to take swigs out of.

Iris's own husband Wil had never been a real drinker, but tonight he had decided to get into a drinking game against T-Dog and Glenn, Daryl had participated on the sidelines for a bit, surprising most of the group by drinking the least out of all the adults except for his wife, Lori, and herself.

She on the other hand had given the pictures of her children a kiss and went to check in on her niece, who was taking the death of her only parent quite well for a child her age. It pained her to know the little girl had already become accepting of the ways this new world worked, but then again she could relate in some way for she lost her parents in a car crash around her niece's age.

Her fingers itched to play the piano, she'd explored earlier and found one in the rec room. She'd shared her excitement with Wil who seemed to brighten up and promised to meet her later, he had missed singing while she played.

It'd feel good to play again, one last time.

~#~

Lori entered the rec room she found the children gathered around the piano while Iris sat on the bench playing what sounded like Hallelujah, her suspicions where confirmed as Wil was leaning on the piano singing along perfectly while little Faith sat on the bench next to her aunt watching the older woman's fingers glide along the keys.

Sophia and Carl sat on the floor listening while they played a board-game while they listened to the couple, Lori followed shortly behind and stood next to her to listen.

Iris finished the song with a flourish and smiled at her dozing niece beside her, smiling she wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her dark blonde head.

"I didn't know you played." Lori said with a smile when they noticed them.

Iris blushed "I learned to play for my grandmother, and then I was the choirs pianist...Wil decided to join choir in the hopes I would go out with him in middle school."

"My devious master plan worked." Wil stage whispered to Sophia and Carl when he came by and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before taking a limp Faith into his arms and carrying her back to their room.

"Mrs. Iris can you play one more song? Please?"

"Okay sweetheart, but it's awfully close to everyone's bedtimes."

Iris started to play a song that sounded like Dream a Little Dream, young eyes growing tired at the slow tune. She stopped when Sophia twitched awake after nearly falling asleep on Carl's shoulder.

"Come on kids, time for bed." Iris nudged the droopy eyed Sophia and Carl. The kids groaned, but listened anyways, being tired overrode begging for another

"You know this is the first night we actually might get any sleep." Lori said with a soft smile, tapping her son on the nose as she spoke to the others still in the room when a noise was heard at the doorway, sending everyone on edge.

Daryl Dixon, normally one to be calm and collected was at the doorway with frightened blue eyes, barely breathing, and his clothes clung to his dripping wet body like he ran out of the shower and threw them on without drying himself off.

"What's wrong Daryl?" asked Lori.

"I-it's Carol," It was strange to hear Daryl stutter and struggle over words, he glanced between the two of them, trying to get his message a crossed.

Iris instantly knew what he meant, having been the one her brother-in-law had asked for her knowledge from her previous two pregnancies years ago, he went on to instruct her how the process worked (not like she needed him to tell her, she'd been in labor before to know how it worked.) Lori being the other woman in the group that had been pregnant before had Carl by c-section, but her help would be invaluable considering the other women like Andrea had never experienced it, to Jackie who would have loved to helped if she knew anything about it.

Lori clicked in a moment later, telling him that she was going to go find Dr. Jenner and some supplies that they would probably need. Iris offered to go back to the room with him and help Carol. She'd ordered the dazed redneck to make sure the children got to their room and to scrub up before he returned to the room.

~#~

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself out in the hall outside their door, he'd tried to stay in the room for as long as he could but it was too much. He'd been scared enough that Carol had asked him to leave the room. He remembered back to the one time he'd went with her to the doctor who had frightened him with diagrams and stories of what could go wrong. And that was before.

Carol hadn't made him come to another appointment after that, and then the world fell, his mission then was to protect her and Sophia from harm. The safety of the CDC however was too good to last, eventually the supplies would run out, the generators would stop, and they'd be on the road again. This time with a newborn child, he'd follow the original plan to escape as far away from the cities as he could with his family. He'd stay as long as it took for Carol to heal, but he knew she could feel how wrong this place felt. Daryl paced like a caged animal, thinking back to just a couple days before

The scene that had greeted him as he burst his way out of the trees was utter chaos. People everywhere, screaming, gunfire, the snarls of Walkers as they tore into the living.

He moved forward, only stopping to shoot at the undead that came towards them, he'd lost Merle to Atlanta he wasn't going to lose his girls to it as well. He barley noticed anything beyond the snarling faces of the undead that he put down with the gun. When he ran out of shells he switched into using the shotgun as a bat, smashing the heads in until all of them that appeared in camp now had their brains on the ground. His bare flesh was covered in bloody flecks of blood and the dirt from the last few days without a good bath.

There was crying and mourning everywhere from the survivors of the attack, but all he could focus on when he turned around was Carol holding one of the handguns he'd given his girls loosely in her right hand, while her other arm was wrapped around Sophia who had her bow in her hand, and an empty quiver on her back.

Carol had tears in her eyes as he ran to them, dropping the shotgun only when she pulled him into her arms so she could cry into his chest. Sophia squirreled her way under their arms to be in the middle of their embrace the best she could with her sister in the way.

He inspected the pair of them for bites and scratches, ignoring their protests until he was satisfied that they were both in one piece.

It was really then when he took a look at their camp and saw that the one large camp full of people was now down to about a dozen or more people that slowly wandered up to the RV clutching weapons and covered like him in the black blood of walkers or the red blood of their friends or family.

Someone calling his name broke him out of the memory. He found that while he'd been pacing, he'd also had made his hands into fists, broken fingernails pressing jagged half moons into his palms. He breathed in and glanced over to see who interrupted his worry session.

Dale was in the hall in a ridiculous robe, he had that dumbass look on his face he wore when he was about to try and say something that would most likely piss him off.

"What's going on?" the old man asked, just seconds before the cry of a newborn was heard from the room.

"I'm a dad." he leaned heavily onto the wall, sliding down and landing heavily on his butt as he listened to the shrill cry continue from the other side of the door.

The older man held out the bottle of wine that he had tucked under his arm and Daryl took it with a raised eyebrow.

"I know it isn't a cigar or Whiskey but it will have to do." Dale said with a smile, standing beside Daryl leaving him with just enough personal space he figured Daryl could handle him being in. At this point the redneck didn't care as he took a large swig of the sweet drink and made a face before handing it back to the other man.

"I ain't tryin' that shit again." Daryl rasped motioning to the wine, making old Dale laugh.

Daryl didn't know whither it was fear or excitement that made him grin like an idiot with the nosy old man, nor what brought on the sudden onslaught of the chuckles that came out of his mouth. Perhaps it was all the worry being released off his heart, maybe for a minute he needed to let go and be a bit crazy. All he knew was that he felt as if he were drunk, probably was thanks to the amount of Southern Comfort he'd had earlier.

He stood up when he heard the rattle of a doorknob, and started biting on his thumbnail, trying to act cool but failing so bad Dale was trying to hide his chuckles as he unskillfully snuck away. Lori was the first person to leave the room, giving the men a look before smiling softly at Daryl and wishing him a quiet congratulations. Iris came out shortly after, yawning she smiled at both of them before staggering tiredly down to her own room to get some rest.

Jenner was the last, he was a shade of white and a quiet thoughtfulness that made Daryl nervous, the man had something on his mind that worried him. As did this whole place, but that was pushed to the sidelines next to his families safety, namely at the moment the health of his wife and newborn child.

"How are they?" He asked immediately, stunning the man out of whatever he was thinking on.

"She's fine, and the child is as well, they're waiting for you." Jenner smiled and tried to place a hand on his shoulder, stopping when he stiffened.

"Good Night then, Mr. Dixon."

Daryl gave him a stiff nod of thanks in return, entering the room silently and shutting the door behind him with a light click. He took in a deep breath as he surveyed the room.

Carol smiled tiredly when he came in, she was laying on her side in their bed, her curly shoulder length hair was freshly tied up in a loose bun and her eyes were gleaming as she stared down at the small bundle that lay beside her.

"She picked a good time to make her appearance" he joked kneeling down close to the bed, glancing between her and the child.

"Yes he did."

"He?" Catching what she said Daryl frowned, weren't they having a little girl? That's what the doctor had said anyway when she'd asked.

She smirked "He likes to be sneaky apparently, he gets that from you."

"He?" he repeated, like a scratched record, electric blue eyes staring at the newborn baby boy as he shifted in his sleep.

"Yes Daryl, he, we have another Dixon male in the family now." Carol placed a hand on his cheek and rubbed her thumb over the edge of his cheekbone, attempting to soothe him drawing his shocked gaze from the little to her face.

"I don't have a clue on how to raise a boy right Carol." he rasped worriedly, his eyes betraying the fear he carried of becoming his father or brother.

"I don't either, guess we're on equal ground now." she replied, stopping her ministrations as his hand covered her hand she had on his cheek.

He gulped "Yeah."

"Do you want to hold him?"

"Ya' sure?"

"Of course, he's your son too Daryl." she was still smiling at him when he dropped her hand to slide it under his son's tiny head. She helped him position his hands correctly under their sons head before letting him take over. He shifted the baby easily into the crook of his arm, surprised that it felt so natural to him. Daryl sent his wife one of his rare grins as he moved to sit next to her on the bed, as she sat up to make some room for him on the bed.

"Go to sleep, I got this." He said when he noticed her hazel green eyes were drooping as she tried her hardest to stay awake for them. She'd worked hard on barely any sleep from the nights before sleeping in a thin walled tent on a air mattress.

"You sure?" She asked, hiding a yawn.

He snorted "He's asleep right now, like ya' should be."

She chuckled lightly, lying back down and pulling the blankets up to cover her shoulders and shut her eyes, falling quickly into a deep sleep. He waited until her breaths evened out before turning to his new partner-in-crime.

"I think ya' need to greet your big sister, she's been excited to see ya' little guy." he murmured, getting only a little grunt of a response from his son. He stood carefully and sneaked himself, and his small package out into the hall, heading towards the room he'd settled the kids into earlier into the night.

He was undetected as he stole into their room maneuvering around Carl and Faiths cots to get to his daughters, nudging her awake with his bare foot.

"What's going on?" She asked, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

He smirked sitting beside her like he'd been just minutes earlier with her mama, letting her take in the bundle in his arms.

"Mama had the baby?" Sophia smiled excitedly, sleep quickly forgotten to give her attention back to the little wonder in her fathers arms.

"Yep, ya' have a little brother now."

"Brother? I thought mama was having a girl?" She asked, giving Daryl a look that said 'are you lying to me?'.

He shrugged in response, as if to say 'shit happens' and the baby boy grunted in protest of being moved around so much while he was sleeping.

"He's really cute"

"What's cute?" he grumbled, smirking when she sent him a glare "He's going to be a silent walker hunter."

She rolled her eyes"Not until he's older Dad."

"Really?"

"Yep, cause I'm going to be watchin' over him." She said without any hesitation, and he was reminded of the strength her mother carried with her, and some of the loyalty that she had learned from him.

"Good girl." he murmured and she grinned.

"When can I see Mama?"

"In the morning kiddo, for now let her rest okay?" he managed to ruffle her hair, she nodded and he gave her a smile.

He left her room and went back to find Carol was still sound asleep, her hair had fallen out of the bun and now they made a wild halo on her pillow. Daryl placed the bundle that was his son next to his sleeping wife, taking a pillow and placing it on the other side of his little body so he couldn't fall off the bed. Then he himself settled himself down on the couch with a thin blanket, using his arm as a pillow.

He happily went to sleep, after all he'd probably never have a full nights worth again...

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we are now 1/4 of the way through the story...OMG...
> 
> Guesses for what I named Baby Boy Dixon?


	4. Lies, Greed, Misery

__

Lies Greed Misery  
Now let me show ya  
Exactly how the breaking point sounds.  
~*LT*~

“I still say we head to Fort Benning.” Shane said aloud, thumb hooked into his belt strap as he leaned into the car. Daryl was bracing himself with both arms against the hood, dark circles under his eyes as he glanced around the men who gathered around the map. Rick was standing directing in front of the piece of crap car, like a General or better yet a medieval lord and his round table of Knights. Sporting the dark circles like most of them, wore down by the constant bickering that always seemed to happen when the map was unfolded, or a new stretch of Highway appeared. The Wolfe patriarch stood with his arms crossed shaking his head, the formerly funny man had changed since his younger brothers death, becoming grim and aged with silver.  
“My family is not coming with you, not chasing the pipe dream that any military base survived this.” Wil stated staring down the hot-shot cop. The man had grew to be just as irritable as Daryl was, perhaps worse in the weeks since Atlanta. So much so Iris took Faith with her driving the Cherokee to get away from him for a few hours.  
They had spent the last couple of weeks living in tents and jumping from house to house, Dale had offered for Carol, Sophia and the baby to sleep in the RV at night. Daryl was taking watch on top whenever he could, sleeping on the floor of the RV on nights he didn't. The baby boy was just happy to be where ever he was, spending most of his time sleeping in his parents or sisters arms or in the Moses basket Glenn had managed to scavenge from a house in the first few days after escaping the CDC.  
“I ain't going with either.” Daryl rasped.  
Daryl stole a glance to where Carol was currently sorting through some of the supplies they had gathered from the nearby cars. Sophia was watching over her sleeping baby brother in his basket. Carol gave him a week smile before going on back to her work as Iris and her tag along Faith took some of the sorted supplies and separated them equally among the vehicles.  
About a week before give or take he and Carol agreed to name the little boy Jayden, or Jay for short. Truthfully he'd gotten sick of the group 'telling' him how cute it would be to name the little guy Hunter or Archer, someone had even suggested Mason which was quickly shot down. Also, true to her word Sophia watched over her brother like a hawk, helping her mother take care of him when she needed it.  
“Benning could have the protection to keep your family safe, keep that little boy of yours safe.” Shane argued, as if to coax him into buying the idea. He had no idea why Dixon and Wolfe could not see his point.  
Daryl had thought about it, many times before as he slept on the uncomfortable floor of the RV, sometimes having stolen Jay from his bed and holding him in his arms trying to buy Carol a hour more of much needed rest. He remembered how his rage flared in the final minutes at the CDC. He had worked so hard to keep his family safe for months to have it taken away from him in the blink of an eye. Not in a ball of flame like his mother had been, to have nothing left of them 'cept ash, no fucking way. He didn't trust the former military, or any remaining government intuitions out there. Anything they had was a fallacy, nothing from it could be trusted.  
“Nah, Wolfe is righ' the Base sounds like some fairy tale that's not worth riskn' blood over.”  
Rick, stilled dressed in his uniform didn't know how he was going to keep the whole group together in peace. The Wolfe's expressed their desire to travel on to Missouri, Iris's sister had an Orchard she ran out in the southern part of the Ozarks. The older couple hadn't been getting along lately after the CDC and the death of Wil's younger brother in Atlanta. But, if he suggested that they go any direction but west that they would be gone by morning. Taking with them a man who had experience in the Military they could possibly need in the future.  
The Dixon's on the other hand were a whole different story. Daryl was a big hunter and survivalist an asset to the group of formally city folks. while that was great by itself he also had the risk of the newborn baby and the healing mother. But he knew that if the Wolfe's decided that they were heading to Missouri on their own, the Dixon's would follow since the two families had latched onto each other from the get-go. Never mind the issues with his own family, Lori and Carl had bonded with Carol and Sophia as well.   
Hell, he wasn't going to get started on Shane and his going on about Fort Benning, truthfully he was on Daryl and Wil's side; if the military couldn't handle the undead in Atlanta or anywhere in the first place, did it make much sense to head to a Military base?  
Why was it so hard to bring together a group of people after the end of the world?  
Daryl was visibly growing more and more aggravated at Shane went on another overused rant about the benefits of Benning. Dale was trying to play peacekeeper while Glenn and T-Dog stood on watch, listening into the argument shaking their heads.  
Rick sighed “Right now we should look for somewhere safe that can hold us for a few days, maybe a couple weeks. Just until we gather enough supplies to head back out on the road again.”   
“There's a motel nearby on the map.” Glenn piped up from from his perch “About 20 miles from here, we could make runs to the little town 30 miles past that.”  
All the men turned to look at him in various looks of aggravation and relief.   
Shane snorted “The Motel then it is.”

~#~

She hovered over her brother as she watched her father and the few other adults take out a small group of Walkers. She could barely see the wings that decorated her fathers back as he bent over to retrieve one of his bolts from the vile creatures. Her mother was standing outside of the car she and the other children had been thrown into when the first few straggling undead had straggled into view of their most recent resting place outside a little town. She had a large buck knife clutched in her hand as she scanned the area worriedly with the others, having climbed out to help.  
Sophia dared a glance down at her little brother, still fast asleep in his basket he'd slept through the terror that plagued them. He was lucky he wasn't old enough to have to know how close he was to dying every day.  
Her mom leaned heavily against the car door, her eyes drifting shut as she pulled the blanket weakly over her shoulders as she took in some well-deserved rest. Being on the run like they had was trying on her mother who'd barely given birth to her little brother a week before they had to escape their supposed safe place before it blew up into teeny tiny pieces.  
Sophia shivered as she remembered how furious her father had been when Dr. Jenner had informed them the building was going to explode by setting the air on fire. He'd nearly cleaved the man's head in two with an ax he had been slamming into the door, It took a few people to catch him in time and that had barely saved the doctor. Her father had just been so angry and frightening that she'd pasted herself to her mother's side until he just let them go. her brother had started fussing in her mothers arms as she and Rick pleaded with him for their freedom of choice.  
The rest was a blur until her father not once but twice threw himself between her mother, her brother and herself as something exploded from behind. He had pushed them into the Cherokee and ran to his bike.  
They had fled Atlanta and the surrounding suburbs, traveling farther out and away from the city. Although they did try to seek sanctuary with the group that had holed up in a old folks home, only to find the group had been slaughtered learning the living were just as dangerous as the dead.  
Since then they'd been wandering, trying to survive, and some of the men where arguing. They'd gather during their brief rest stops to discuss to future. Her father mostly either went hunting, kept watch, and threw in a comment once in a while. Never getting into the politics that surrounded the discussions until a hour or so before when Rick had pulled her dad into the circle to which then drew her father and Shane disagreeing.  
Somehow that had lead them here, to a Motel long abandoned before the dead started walking the Earth.  
A knock on the window drew her attention, outside stood both her mother and Iris who were checking in that the car was intact. She didn't realize she had her hand on her gun until she released it, images of the last night at the quarry flashing through her mind with the sound of a gunshot. The smell of the dead and the screams of the living as they ran in terror.  
Her mother opened the door and pulled her into her arms with a relieved sigh, she then moved on to check over her brother.  
“Did he cry at all?” Her mother asked climbing inside the Cherokee behind the steering wheel, apparently Iris was going to try and talk to her husband before they settled down into one of the rooms for the night.  
“Nope he was asleep the whole time.” she replied settling down from her previous position, leaning against the back of the seat with a tired sigh and closing her tired eyes.  
She jumped when she felt a hand touch her arm, only to remember her mother was the one touching her.  
“Are you alright?” She asked, Sophia would never get used to the look of worry in her mothers eyes. It seemed to be in everyone's thoughts as they shuffled around in their day-to-day lives. If one could really call it that, days were 'good' when they weren't impeded from their wandering by roadblocks   
She nodded weakly, she was so tired, but too afraid of what lurked both in and out of her nightmares to sleep.  
Sophia blearily glanced around at the other stumbling members of the group, each too tired to try more then a dew words to each other as they split into their respective groups.  
Her father lead them to a room he'd cleared out earlier, he helped carry some of their things to the room, the rest staying in the cars in case they needed to make a quick getaway.  
“Daryl, are you going to join us tonight?” Her mother asked, sh had a firm grip his bicep, stopping him.  
“You took watch the last couple nights Daryl, you need to rest.” He glanced over his shoulder, dark circles under his eyes as the gears turned in his head. Probably going over what mom just said and gave up with a subtle nod;  
“I'ma go tell Rick .” he rasped, and Carol let him go, watching him go sadly before turning towards one of the rooms they had cleared out earlier. Sophia stood bouncing her fussy little brother a little as her mother quickly checked out the room with a resigned look.  
“Come on Sophia.” Her mother's soft voice called from the doorway of their temporary abode, she obeyed, the idea of a 'real' bed winning in the exhaustion of the moment.  
Sophia scrunched her nose up at the smell of must and mold that came from the room, the bed was bare of anything which was a relief and a let down. Relief over not having awful smelling linen but terrible for their savaging needs. Besides the bed was a raggedy couch that had seen betters days. Like a decade ago.  
Her mother quickly went to work making their temporary home at least livable for the night, the next day she'd probably check on how long they were going to stay before ripping the god awful sheets from the beds and try to air them out over the railings, and if she was luck wash them.  
Sophia woke up from her thoughts when her mother took Jay from her arms and settled in to feeding him. She took a quick look to see that her mother had set up the couch for someone to sleep on, she couldn't decide who it was for until her father returned and took it. At their questioning looks he had grunted and said that he was going to go scouting the area in the morning for some game.  
Her mother had just nodded sadly and motioned for Sophia to go to bed with her. Sophia didn't complain and crawled in without changing into pajamas she was so tired. She took her blanket and wrapped it around her, pulling it over her nose to keep the smell away from her as she tried to go to sleep...

~#~

The only sounds in the room were the even breaths that Sophia was giving off in her sleep and the light grunting of the infant in her arms as he fed. She knew that Daryl wasn't asleep yet, having been lovers now for a few years, and having been married to a violent man had heightened her sense of hearing in the dark.  
“Daryl?”   
“Hm?”  
“Where are we going to go?” she asked  
“What do ya' mean?”  
“After this place, where are we going?”  
He groaned “I have no idea Carol, I know that Shane's Fort Benning is a bust, an your friend Iris goes on an on about her sisters farm in Missouri...The cabin was a shit plan to begin with, don't know if that damn thing is even sound anymore.”  
“Whatever you choose I'll trust your choice.” she placed her now sleeping son into his Moses basket which was next to her side of the bed on the floor.  
He sighed “I know, ya always have.”  
there was silence for a moment before she spoke again.  
“Daryl, promise me if I get lost...”   
“Carol...” he growled, having had this conversation with her before, and not liking to talk of this subject to her at any point of their life together.   
“No, if I am lost you watch over them both, no wallowing in grief over what's left of me.”   
he snorted “Go to sleep woman.”   
“Please Daryl...”   
“Fine, now shut up about this dyin' talk, ya not going anywhere.” she heard him shift on the couch, she supposed that meant he was done for the night as his breaths deepened.   
“Love you.” she murmured into the darkness as she closed her eyes.

~#~

The next morning she had woken as her father was finishing getting ready, crossbow thrown over his shoulder. She watched as he went to her mother, who was also awake as she was feeding her younger brother at the early hour.   
She frowned when he didn't even try to wake her so she could join him on his hunt, practically the only time they ever spent together doing nowadays that they kept on from before. He gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, gently touching her brothers tiny head and gave her mother one of his half smiles as her mother barely opened her eyes to give him a smile. They whispered something to each other for a few moments as she tried to catch the last of ones blissful sleepy moments before having to join the waking world. Confusion taking up most of her thoughts.  
So as soon as he was outside she was out of bed with her boots halfway done up, knife in hand and gun in belt chasing him out the door.  
“Dad, wait!”  
He stopped and gave her a questioning look, having learned that he wasn't going to ask unless he was angry she quickly blurted  
“Ya' going huntin' today right? I'll go get my bow and we can go together.” her father instantly looked tired and was uneasy as he replied tiredly;   
“Naw, you stay 'ere and watch over your Mama and little Jay.”   
“B-but I wa...”  
“Gunna scope out those woods, you and your Mama need meat.” He said to her unfinished statement, casting a long look at the closed door to their room before landing back on her. “ 'is best if I do that alone then ta have to worry 'bout you the entire time.”  
She nodded and he gave her a nod before turning and marching away like some solider he'd never been. Each day she watched him slowly drift away from the man he had finally gotten comfortable with before to a harder version of himself. It was disheartening to the young girl to be left behind by her father, constantly seeing his back as he walked away.  
“Stay Safe!” She called after him, he didn't stop but he did raise his hand in a half-wave before disappearing into the foliage.

~#~

Andrea had been watching earlier when the young girl Sophia and her father Daryl had the confrontation outside their room. She'd never gotten to know the Dixon family beyond her disgust for the elder brother and the leering of Carol's Ex Husband.   
She didn't know exactly how she got to the young girls side, she had enough of her own problems to deal with. But she couldn't let the young girl sit outside and cry in the middle of camp and wake everybody up.  
“It'll be alright, they have quite a bit on their plate now that they didn't have before.” Poor Carol, having to first deal with being pregnant in this mess, and now having an infant to cart around while she kept an eye on Sophia, Daryl, and the rest of camp. Personally she did want to help out, but having been a feminist career woman for so long had the thought of doing the laundry or cooking for the men who got to go out and protect the group, hunt, scavenge, etc was infuriating. She tried, she really did but she was about done, she wanted in on the boys club.   
“I just don't want them to turn like Amy and Jim did.” Sophia blurted, her hands went to cover her mouth in horror when she realized what she had just said.   
Andrea had not been ready for that remark, or the reminder, not from the girl at least. It'd been something she could imagine Lori saying in a thoughtless moment sure.  
“I-I'm sorry!” the girl exclaimed, her face contorted into panic that Andrea had remembered her sister to wear when she'd get in trouble during her rare visits home. Instinctively she went into the instant older-sister/mother mode she'd learned briefly from being 12 years senior to her own sister.  
“No it's okay Sophia, it is a good thing to fear for your brother and parents, it's what makes us human, loving others.” She placed her arm lightly around the young girls shoulders and shushed her.  
It's the only thing separating us from them, she thought watching the early morning light filter in over the tree-tops, suddenly thankful she was still here one more day. Even if it was one day longer then...well some people had it. She was not totally resolved to the fact of her sisters death and her continuing survival in this mess of a world, to help others survive so their families would not be torn apart.   
She was ready to at least fight.  
Little did she know this to be true, she would have to be fighting, sooner then she would have ever thought.

TBC


End file.
